In this course we will examine a series of works from Slavic literature, with a special emphasis on Russian literature, in order to understand the particular concerns and perspectives of some Slavic authors from different periods and countries. Readings will include the longer works described under Required Readings below and a few shorter works to be handed out in class. We will also watch one or more Slavic films depending on student interest. Class meetings will be conducted as rolling discussions with some student presentations and little lecturing. In papers and discussions students from different fields will have the opportunity of pursuing their own particular interests. Please feel free to communicate them to me. There will be no exams in the class. The papers are described under evaluation below.
Required Texts
Andrey Bely, Petersburg
(A fantastic novel about Petersburg in which the forces of reason and irrationality
duel for the city's soul and the hero has to decide whether to kill his own
father to prove his allegiance to revolution.)
Nikolai Gogol, Petersburg Tales
(Stories and plays about Petersburg by the comic author who portrayed the city
as a place where devils lurk, noses can live own their own, and a man can lose
his soul to an overcoat.)
Jan Kochanowski, Laments
(In a cycle of poems, which is almost unique in European Renaissance literature
because of its personal subject matter, and which has been newly translated
by the Noble Prize winning poet Seamus Heany, the leading Polish Renaissance
poet comes to terms with the childhood deaths of his two daughters. How can
either Classical stoicism or Christian faith explain and accept the harsh reality
of undeserved human mortality? Kochanowski's solution is both justly famous
and tinged with a surprising irony.)
Mikhail Lermontov, Hero of Our Time
(A famous set of episodes from the life of a Byronic rebel arranged into one
of the first Russian novels. Still read by nearly all Russians as teenagers,
Lermontov's work shows the plight of a man who has no outlet for his superior
abilities other than the destruction of others' happiness. Is he evil, or merely
misunderstood? Will he meet the woman who could save him, and will he recognize
her if he does? Can a European live among the natural "savages" of
the mountains?)
Josef Skvorecky, The Miracle Game
(A Czech comic novel which has been called the best possible introduction to
modern Czech literature. Can anyone believe in miracles (even secular ones)
after the events of this century?)
Grading
Class participation 25%
Short papers 50%
(You will write a 2-3 page essay on a topic of your choice at the end of the
second, fourth and sixth parts of the course. These papers may be rewritten.
Topics will be suggested for students who want them.)
Final Paper 25%
(You will write a 6-8 page paper on a topic of your choice. You will also have
the opportunity of rewriting this paper.)
There will be no final exam in this course.
Schedule of Class Meetings
Part One: Russia's Image of Itself and Poland's Image of Russia
Week 1: Medieval Russian Views of the City and of the Prince; Encounters with
the Nomads
Reading: Hilarion's Sermon
Lay of the Host of Igor
Week 2 Mickiewicz and Pushkin on Petersburg
Reading: poems by Mickiewicz and Pushkin
Part Two: Polish Renaissance Humanism and the Blending of Classical and Catholic Culture
Weeks 3,4 Reading: Kochanowski
Essay One Due.
Part Three: Gogol's Petersburg
Weeks 5, 6 Reading: selection from Gogol
Part Four: Lermontov: the Superfluous man and the Romance of the Caucasus
Weeks: 7,8, 9 Reading: Lermontov
Film: Oblomov
Essay Two Due.
Part Five: Revolution and Decadence
Weeks 10, 11 Reading: Bely
Part Six: Stalinism and Central Europe
Weeks 12,13, 14 Reading: Skvorecky
Essay Three Due.
Final Discussions
Be sure to familiarize yourself with the college policy on academic dishonesty in the Pathfinder.